Ross, who has already announced his retirement at the end of this season, began his professional baseball career in Yakima as a member of the now defunct Bears of the Northwest League in 1998 after being a seventh-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ross played in 59 games and batted a robust .309 with six homers in his only season in Yakima before ascending through the L.A. farm system and eventually breaking into the big leagues in 2002.

Doug Kaplicky, a former pro player himself from Yakima and massive Cubs fan, reminded me of this via a Facebook video (see: below). I was in my third year as the public address announcer and had somehow forgotten his tenure - even though I had announced his name hundreds of times in my life.

Paul Romero, son of then Bears G.M. Bob, was a batboy for that team as a youngster and shared this anecdote that speaks to why "Grampa Rossy" has been a beloved teammate to this day: